To keep production lines moving, manufacturers require delivery of the right part to the right place at the right time and in the right quantity. In conventional production lines such as automotive assembly lines, parts are added or assembled to a partially assembled product as it passes by assembly stations or areas on the production line. Associates working on the production line install parts and complete assembly processes as may be required to build a product meeting a particular set of specifications. A production schedule usually determines which manufacturer products will be built on a particular day or other production period and therefore, dictates which parts or components are needed on the production line so associates can complete the installation and assembly tasks at the assembly stations or areas. If an associate at an assembly station does not have the right parts at the right time, accommodations to the production process must be made. The product may be held or diverted to another location while attempts are made to locate the appropriate parts. Production slows or worse, may be halted entirely, as time is spent locating the appropriate part or parts to complete the necessary installation and assembly tasks.
To facilitate delivery of parts to the production line, some manufacturers work with a logistics provider that manages inventories of parts at the manufacturing facility and uses a variety of delivery techniques get parts from various inventory locations to production line locations when a need for replenishment is determined. For example, when the line side supply of a particular part at a particular location drops below a threshold, a replenishment method may be used in which an associate drives a vehicle loaded with the low inventory part to the particular production line location. Other manufacturers respond to replenishment requests using automated guided vehicles that deliver parts to assembly line locations based on directional information programmed into the vehicles.
Various right part, right place, right time (RPT) production methods have been developed to reduce costs attributable to maintaining replenishment inventories. RPT techniques involve coordinating the delivery of parts to the manufacturer's assembly plant as well as to “line side” locations in an effort to reduce inventory levels and, consequently, costs. Some manufacturers have incorporated parts consolidation centers into their RPT practices. Consolidation centers are facilities where parts are received from suppliers, staged for use in one or more assembly plants (i.e., organized according to the order in which they will be consumed), and then transported from the consolidation center to an assembly plant production line where they are consumed.
Although the logistics provider is responsible for delivery of parts from their arrival at the consolidation center to production line locations, the manufacturer typically orders the parts and supplies that are delivered to the consolidation center. The manufacturer orders parts and schedules delivery of the parts from suppliers as needed to maintain a flow of parts from the consolidation center to the production line. Although parts are ordered and scheduled for delivery according to the manufacturer's needs, what is delivered to the consolidation center and when it is delivered may be different than what was ordered for a variety of reasons. In some instances, parts deliveries to the consolidation center may be delayed due to weather, traffic, or even a wrong turn while en route to the consolidation center. In other instances, the supplier may not have provided all of the parts that were ordered. The parts may not have been loaded on the truck or they may not have been manufactured at all. Once at the consolidation center, parts may be misplaced during unloading or transportation to various points within the facility.
Part shortages attributable to delivery delays, quantity variances, misplacement, etc. may occur for various reasons. Although a logistics provider may undertake efforts to prevent or mitigate the impact of a parts shortage on production, the options available to the logistics provider depend upon a variety of factors. Some parts shortages may be corrected easily by locating the parts in overstock inventory or other inventory locations at the consolidation center. If the parts are not available in inventory, parts shipment data allows the logistics provider to determine whether an incoming shipment may be used to address the parts shortage. If no incoming shipments will arrive in time to address the parts shortage, the logistics provider may use an alternate source for the part. For example, the manufacturer may issue a new purchase order for the parts and expedite shipment of the parts. Once the parts arrive at the consolidation center, the logistics provider needs to arrange to have the parts delivered to the appropriate production line location so that production can continue uninterrupted. Therefore, it is important for the logistics provider to have detailed information about the parts shortage as well as for options to assist in recovering from the shortage.
Although the logistics provider may rely on one or more computer systems to manage many aspects of its parts delivery operations, the computer systems do not provide the features and functionality and detailed information needed to manage parts shortages. In particular, they do not provide features and functionality that allow a logistics provider to project when a parts shortage may occur or the nature of the shortage. There is a need for a computerized system and method provides a logistics provider with detailed information about parts shortages and when they may occur. There is a need for a computerized system and method that allows a logistics provider to receive information about parts shortages so that their impact on production can be analyzed. There is a need for a computerized system and method for determining whether a parts shortage is a critical parts shortage that could have an immediate impact production. There is a need for a computerized system and method that allows a logistics provider to manage parts shortage according to type so that arrangements can be made to avert critical parts shortages.